How easy is Linux to install/use?

[chio]

There is also ardour which is like pro-tools/cubase

Cheers for that one -- I've been looking for something similar to Audition and Protools which we use at work, and Audacity is a bit naff. This looks very promising

 

[Jonti]

... I like to be able to download programs, click a button and have them install themselves without having to worry about what exactly they are doing.
...

But, that's the main advantage of using a distro like ubuntu or blag!

The idea is that you not only get the applications on the installation cd, but that you also get access to a repository of software. I use a "package manager" to browse those repositories and select packages for installation. Then I click a button and, voila! my selections are installed (and appearing in the menu system in the right places). Nice.

Thing is, one isn't restricted to using only the distro's repositories, or even to installing software only through the package manager. But that's linux for you -- you get to take it apart, down to the metal, so to speak, and to put it back together again. There tends to be lots of ways of doing anything.

Never mind all that, just pick a distro whose software repositories meet your needs and one click installation and removal of trusted software is exactly what you get.

 

[souljacker]

Ubuntu is an excellent distro. Very user friendly, good package management and it looks nice.

However, until Reason and Counter Strike come out for Linux, I'll be sticking with win2k.

 

[ChrisC]

Well I have switched to Ubuntu and never ever looked back. Don't use Windows at all anymore. It takes some learning but once you have it the idea of how things work. You can pretty much do everything Windows does. Except play games, directx ones that is. Although I have heard through the grapevine Mandriva have cracked that one. Not sure how, you'll have to check that out. I don't play games anymore so it doesn't bother me.

 

[Boris Sprinkler]

one word. Gentoo. put aside at least two days to install though,

 

[Radar]

Gentoo is a bit hardcore for the first time user, but overall it rocks.

Good liveCD setup now, runs like greased lightning when installed, uses PORTAGE (Rah!!), has quick knowledgeable & helpful support forums (I couldn't believe how shite the debian fora were in comparison whenI had to help a mate with debian & OpenSUSE recently ) Supports multiple hardware platforms too (I have gentoo running on 3 * x86 and 1 * sparc at the moment

If you don't mind getting thrown in at the deep end, gentoo is the way to go You may end up pissing blood the first time you try to configure a kernel by hand and it does take a while to get the install time down to hours not days, but its all a learning experience

 

[lobster]

Gentoo is a bit hardcore for the first time user, but overall it rocks.

Good liveCD setup now, runs like greased lightning when installed, uses PORTAGE (Rah!!), has quick knowledgeable & helpful support forums (I couldn't believe how shite the debian fora were in comparison whenI had to help a mate with debian & OpenSUSE recently ) Supports multiple hardware platforms too (I have gentoo running on 3 * x86 and 1 * sparc at the moment

If you don't mind getting thrown in at the deep end, gentoo is the way to go You may end up pissing blood the first time you try to configure a kernel by hand and it does take a while to get the install time down to hours not days, but its all a learning experience

FWIW The advantage of compiling everything is very minimal, maybe a few seconds startup speed of XYZ application, most distros today optimise there packages anyway. I used Gentoo for a while, its a nice idea, but when you know that somebody has already compiled it before , your realize your just wasting your time.

On a side note, have you thought of trying any of the *BSD's ?
Gentoo took some of its portage ideas from FreeBSD ports and documentation on FreeBSD is second to none.

There is a User friendly derivation called pcbsd which is designed to make it easier to use FreeBSD for someone new to unices.

 

[subversplat]

I'd love to say wonderful and easy, and it really is if you've got the right supported gear, but I am having kittens at the moment trying to get an rt61 card online with WPA under Ubuntu server and I'm a seasoned semi-pro

Good luck though

 

[chio]

For some reason, I've got a little wireless USB stick in a drawer. Just to try it out, I plugged it into the computer and within a couple of seconds, three wireless networks had appeared in the corner of the screen. It just seems to work fine. Windows is here to stay, mind -- I can't see workplaces switching over to free software.

 

[jæd]

Windows is here to stay, mind -- I can't see workplaces switching over to free software.

In my office 50 % of the developers use Linux to develop on. All the development servers are Linux (the production ones are Solaris).

If this Windows thing ever gets going we might use it for something serious...

 

[dervish]

I downloaded Ubuntu 7.04 to install on a mates computer, and it worked, after a fashion, didn't really like the fact it only had 128mb RAM to play with, going to try again with another 256mb stick in it.

Feisty Fawn does look very nice though, if a bit brown at the moment.

Also tried loading Sabayon Linux, which runs like a dream on my computer and is soooo pretty! Didn't work on his, unsurprisingly.